ET (Stands For Emerald-Talented)
by Whisker Biscuit
Summary: Through all of his adventures, Sonic has never questioned himself or his powers. His speed, his affinity for chaos energy, everything else - they don't usually matter in the long run. But that doesn't mean he misses the signs.


**Notes: A look at the "Sonic is an Alien Theory" that circulated the web last September, and how it could connect to the earlier games.**

* * *

**The First**

Sonic had never given much thought to things.

Life was simple on South Island. Nice climates, friendly folks, and plenty of great places to run, run, _run_. He didn't have a conventional home or a family waiting for his return, but that was okay. With the landscape as it was, lots of people were travelers. They had gotten used to being on their own for months at a time. He just happened to be one of the few who never really settled.

And then Robotnik had come.

It was chaos, what he did. Wrecking the countryside, trapping animals and making strange machines out of them. None of the inhabitants took very kindly to that, but they soon learned that their weapons of farming tools and home commodities were useless against a robot's hide. Sonic seemed to be the only one who could do real damage.

So he did that damage, and saved countless lives, and worked from zone to zone looking for the strange gems that Robotnik was truly after. He didn't really see himself as a hero. He was more of a necessary vigilante, if anything. Just doing what was right because he could.

When he found the gems – the emeralds, apparently – they always tingled in his hands and made his quills buzz. Knowing nothing about them beyond that they held a lot of power and were being hunted by some megalomaniac, he figured that made sense and didn't really question things further. He never asked anyone else if they got the same feeling.

Defeating the mad scientist was difficult. It became a little easier when he thought of the people he had saved, and the uplifting weight of six emeralds nestled safely in his quills. If the latter happened to give him more of a physical push than a mental one, then all the better. It was probably another part of their power, anyway.

He'd just never given it much thought. And that was that.

**In Between**

"Sonic? Where do babies come from?"

The hedgehog just about tripped on air. He made an embarrassing yelp as he righted himself and turned to look at the innocent, shining eyes of the little fox in the wagon he was pulling.

"Ya kinda startled me, buddy. Could you repeat the question? I think I heard wrong."

"Where do babies come from?"

Nope. He had heard it just fine. Sonic pulled a face and dropped the wagon handle, putting his hands on his hips. He gave Tails a squinted look.

"Why the sudden interest in kiddies? You wantin' a baby bro or baby sis? Cause that's not happening."

"No. Yesterday when we were in Hill Top Village, you were helpin' Mr. Jay fix his car and I was helpin' Mrs. Jay with her kids."

"Uh-huh."

"And she asked me where my family was, and why I was hanging out with you."

"…Uh-huh."

"So I told her that you were my family! Cause you are! But she got all upset and told me you weren't my family cause I was too old to be your baby."

"What?"

"Yeah, that's what I said! Then she said I didn't need to know about that and patted my head all wrong and messed up my fur and gave me her number and told me to call her if I felt unsafe." He pulled the slip of paper from his shoe and showed it off as proof.

"Unsafe? What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Sonic swiped the number and glared at it like it had personally offended him. Which it totally had.

"I dunno. But I'm always safe around you, Sonic, so I don't really need to call her, right?"

Crazy, gossiping old birdy. The hedgehog decided he'd have a personal chat with a certain Mrs. Jay next time they were in the area. Let her know how much was actually her concern and where she could stick it.

"And you're just telling me this now?"

Tails shrugged. "We went to get chili dogs after that and I forgot. But I remembered today! And I was thinking about what she said about me not being your baby, and I know that already, but I don't know where babies come from. So I asked."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

This kid was going to be the death of him someday. Sonic leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms, considering the best way to answer without…going into detail.

"Okay, so. Uh…babies. It's like, when two Mobians love each other a lot, right? They love each other in the cooties kind of way. Then they stay together all the time. Sometimes they get married like Mr. and Mrs. Jay, sometimes they don't, sometimes they're both dudes or both gals, either way it's cool. And, uh…their cootie love, sometimes it's so strong that it becomes a baby. So they become parents. They have a baby with them. Yeah."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"Course it makes sense, ya heard it from me. Sonic knows a lot, buddy. So when Tails asks, Sonic says."

"Is that why Mrs. Jay got so upset? Cause babies are s'pposed to be with their parents and not anyone else? And I'm not with my real parents?"

"Mrs. Jay needs to mind her own business," the hedgehog mumbled under his breath. A little louder, he said, "sometimes the parents aren't ready to have babies yet, and they don't know how to take care of them. So then other people take care of the kids, and become their real families. Like you and me."

"Oh. That makes sense too."

"Yep. Okay, question time's over! Let's get going!" Sonic emphasized this by picking the wagon handle back up. He turned around and started walking again. Tails fell silent for a few minutes, but his mind was quick and curious. The next question was inevitable.

"What about you, Sonic? Did your parents take care of you? Or did you get a new family?"

Sonic didn't stop walking. "I thought question time was over, Tails."

"But I wanna know!"

"Well that's too bad, cause ya don't need to know."

"Soooooonic…" The whine built slowly from quiet flute to dog whistle. The hedgehog sucked air through his teeth.

"All you gotta know is that I never needed anyone looking out for me. Alright? Just me, and you, and adventures."

He could tell the fox wasn't fully satisfied with that answer, but thankfully he let it go. They soon moved on to more important things, like scouting out a good place for lunch and offering assistance to some hitchhikers who needed a fast lift.

Later, when they were settled in an empty campground for the evening, Sonic replayed the conversation in his mind. He had mostly been telling the truth. As far back as he could remember, he'd been alone. And that was just how it was. Not anything to fuss over. Definitely nothing sinister or strange. He was just there, living and running and taking care of himself.

Tails shifted in his sleep at Sonic's side. _Taking care of themselves,_ the hedgehog amended. Those thoughts didn't linger much longer once he'd rationalized them, so he fell into a comfortable slumber soon afterwards.

He always slept easier beneath the stars.

**The Second**

Robotnik very obviously couldn't take a hint.

Usually, when someone kicks your butt good, you go home and lick your wounds and don't do it again. Maybe learn some life lessons somewhere along the way, too.

But _no_, this dumb egg of a man couldn't go and do that, because otherwise Sonic would be enjoying the tail end of his travels with his best friend and not trying to rescue him and the rest of South Island. Yet here they were,_ again_, duking it out for land and lives and limitless power. He'd managed to get all seven emeralds before Robotnik too, which was just the icing on the cake.

And it was a little harder to beat him than last time, with the mad scientist's new mech and his weird giant Death Egg hovering high in the air. Sonic wasn't sure how he managed to destroy either, but he had, and as he stood inside the exploding space station as it fell from the sky, he struggled with the realization that unless he got out and got out soon, it could very well be the end for him.

At least, it would have been the end if the emeralds hadn't started glowing and spinning around him. In his panic, Sonic didn't stop to think about how bizarre it was. Nor did he fully grasp why his mind reached out in response, like instinct. The gems span faster.

_Move_, they hummed.

_I will_, he promised.

Then everything released at once and his body took it all. He dazzled, sparkled, transformed, lifted. His feet were no longer touching the ground but that no longer mattered here, not when he was soaring, when he was powerful and vast and cosmic.

When he was CHAOTIC.

Ripping through the metal hull of the Death Egg was like tearing through crinkled aluminum. Shooting through the atmosphere was like sliding down a water slide. Seeing the Tornado far below, seeing Tails' panicked, awe-struck face, was like putting a microscope to his eyes. It was easy. It was simple. It was ordinary.

He ended up flying parallel to the plane, silent and regal as his best friend shouted wonder and praise. He heard the words, but something in his mind stuttered in a millisecond to understand them. It was like he was relearning the language. It was like the language was not his first. Like it was not his own.

Like this world was not his own.

The transformation did not last long, however, and soon Sonic came back to himself, dropping onto the wing of the plane with a shimmering final flush of yellow. Tails was quiet for all of two seconds before he began talking a mile a minute. What was that? How did you do that? Can you do it again? What did it feel like?

And Sonic shrugged, grinning and swaying on the aftermath of a chaos high. I don't know. I think it was the emeralds. I probably could, if I really tried. It felt amazing.

_It felt like I knew what I was._

**Coming Up To**

"Angel Island, huh? Sounds pretty neat!"

The words were shouted over whipping wind as Sonic sat on the wing of the Tornado, hands gripping the passenger seat while Tails piloted. He peered over the fox's shoulder at the worn-out map in his lap. Tails grinned with a mouth full of growing canines.

"I know! It's supposed to be uninhabited, unexplored, and completely unknown! They call it Angel Island cause it flies everywhere! Oh, and I guess because it's been around since forever."

"Of course it's Robuttnik's luck he crashed there and not in the ocean. Woulda made our jobs a heck of a lot easier."

"I'm just happy you saved everyone! I don't want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't done that cool transforming thing! That was so cool, I wonder what that was?"

The hedgehog wiggled his fingers. "Dunno. But I bet I can do it again since we still have all seven emeralds."

"I hope I get to see it soon!"

"Guess we'll find out when we catch up to Robotnik!"

Through the clouds ahead, Sonic caught a glimpse of the floating island's bottom, hovering so high above them. He felt a thrill at the extraordinary sight, and the emeralds in his quills pulsed as if in agreement.

"Hey! I see the island!" He yelled, scooting out farther on the plane's wing. Something exciting quivered along his body. The emeralds quivered back.

_Move._

_I will._

Tails was craning his neck as far forward as he could. "Really? Where is – oh! I see it too! Should I pull up, Sonic? Sonic? Wha – SONIC!"

Sonic wasn't listening, because Sonic had just tipped forward over the edge of the plane and was plummeting towards the water below. Tails pulled hard on the controls and forced the Tornado into backflip, frantic to save his best friend. Instead, he had to swerve sideways when something yellow and sparkling shot up past the nose of the plane. His eyes got big and round as he recognized it.

There was Sonic – er, Super Sonic, as they had recently dubbed him – floating high in the air. He was staring at Angel Island intently, just hovering there with his arms at his sides. Tails called up to him and Super Sonic's gaze fell to the plane below.

He dropped down almost lazily, pacing easily with the Tornado and watching its pilot with ancient eyes. The fox couldn't help the shiver that arced his fur. He looked at Super Sonic, then at the approaching island.

"So, um, I guess you're going ahead to check it out?"

Super Sonic's mouth twitched upwards just the slightest. It could have been a smile. It could have also been involuntary muscle spasms. Either way, he stared wordlessly at Tails only a moment more before rocketing off towards the island.

The little fox sighed, then tilted the plane upwards. It'd take a while to catch up, and he was still a little spooked from what had just gone down, but at least from here he got a good view of Super's mesmerizing flight.

**The Third**

Knuckles always managed to make things more complicated than they needed to be.

Granted, it wasn't really his fault that he was so isolated and thus so naïve to manipulation. Nor was it his fault that Robotnik knew how to take full advantage of that. And, granted some more, Sonic _had_ come up to his island wielding the chaos emeralds just as the mad scientist had claimed he would. The hedgehog had made a mental note to work at being a little less predictable.

Actually, the fact that the echidna had managed to break him out of his Super form with a well-placed punch was almost as concerning as his lack of judgement. Sonic was used to feeling invincible like that; invincible and unbreakable and understanding. He never in a million years would have thought it was possible to be pulled out of that by any force of will but the emeralds alone.

Which was kind of disturbing, if he was totally honest.

But even with the truth offered six ways to Sunday, Knuckles still. Would not. _Listen_.

And so it was for this reason that, by the time Sonic finally fought him face to face in Hidden Palace, the hedgehog paid no attention to their environment. They exchanged blows, he vaguely noticed some ancient cave paintings above them, Knuckles lost spectacularly, Robotnik stole the Master Emerald, Knuckles lost spectacularly once again, and then there was a reluctant team-up between speedster and sidekick and guardian that was shaky at best.

Also, Super Emeralds were apparently a thing. Which was cool. Sonic doubted he'd ever use that Super-Hyper form again but hey, what's the saying about new experiences, right?

Later, far later after the three of them had run the Eggman off the island for what they hoped was for good (knock on wood), Knuckles had finally gotten it through his thick skull that Sonic was a hero who absolutely deserved a proper apology.

Okay so, he never actually gave a proper verbal apology. But he _did_ give the two a proper tour of the temple, which was pretty much an apology in Sonic's book. Gotta protect that reputation and all.

It was here that the speedster really got a chance to look at the mural he'd skipped out on before. And boy was he glad he'd come back to it. Because Sonic was pretty sure that was him up there, fighting some weirdo who he was mostly sure was Robotnik, over what he was completely sure was a chaos emerald.

Confronting Knuckles about it yielded nothing. The echidna had only shrugged and started some spiel about ancestors and prophecies and destiny, which was the last thing Sonic needed in his life, thank you very much. So he said as much, and that led into an argument about 'respecting my culture and the elders, you blasphemous fake of a hero!'

Tails was ultimately more interested in the mural, and by the time the other two had finally stopped brawling the fox was collecting samples of rock and paint and Chaos knows what else. He said he wanted to determine the age and origin of it all, which swelled Sonic's heart with older brother pride in the same moment he was overcome with inexplicable boredom.

Leaving Angel Island was hard for two reasons; one, because it seemed like such a great place to stay and run awhile; and two because Knuckles kept demanding that the chaos emeralds stay with him for safety. That debate lasted all of a minute until Sonic had shouted, "those emeralds are _mine_," and the gems responded by floating up and smacking right into his chest all at once.

Having the wind knocked out of him was entirely worth the priceless look on the echidna's face.

**Right Before**

"– you two meet, there's some ground rules we gotta establish."

Knuckles crossed his arms in transparent indignation. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, I can't have you spazzin' out on my friends like you did me an' Tails." Sonic mirrored the action and gave his best unimpressed look.

"That was different, Hedgehog."

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say, Guardian of the Master Ignorant."

"Why you –!"

"SONIC! I missed you so much!"

The speedster was blindsided by pink as his friend-slash-admirer glomped him, sending them both sprawling onto the dirt ground. Knuckles raised one eyebrow.

"It looks to me like _all_ of your friends 'spazz out' on you," he quipped as Sonic physically peeled Amy off of his chest. "I, at least, had the decency to give you fair warning."

"Amy, please, it's great to see you too but – ech! Give a guy some personal space, wouldja?"

"Oh sorry, sweetie, it's just been so long since we've seen each other, I just…oh. Hello, who are you?"

The hedgehog girl let go of her crush and came right up to Knuckles, clasping her hands behind her back and looking him up and down. The echidna grimaced, backing up to keep his personal space intact.

"Uh…Knuckles. And you are?"

"Hi Knuckles! I'm Amy," she stuck out her hand. "Any friend of Sonic's is a friend of mine! Are you new in the area? I don't think I've seen you before now."

"Uh…" He repeated eloquently, staring at the outstretched hand like it was a foreign object. Sonic snorted as he brushed himself off, then grabbed ahold of the echidna's spiked glove. He directed it into Amy's waiting palm as Knuckles blinked in complete bemusement.

"And this is how we greet people," the speedster announced sarcastically. "Now that you've made hand and eye contact, proceed to lift and lower your arm – just like that, good job – and say 'nice to meet you'."

Knuckles gave him a very dirty look but recited the phrase anyway. Amy beamed as she dropped the handshake.

"So, cool. Amy, this is Knuckles, the only guy living on Angel Island who we're currently introducing to civilization. Knuckles, this is Amy, my former pen pal who I saved on the Little Planet not too long ago. I got places to be for a while, so. Play nice!"

With a two-fingered salute, Sonic was gone in a trail of dust, leaving a confused hedgehog and a befuddled echidna to deal with the very present awkwardness. Knuckles' arm was still half-outstretched. His face contorted in embarrassed anger.

"I'm gonna kill him."

Amy didn't say anything, but she didn't really need to. The look on her face told Knuckles he wasn't the only one who shared this sentiment today.

Two hours and a failed baking session later, the reluctant pair sat together on Amy's front porch steps, chatting about a surprisingly mutual interest in various cooking spices. The sound of a distant boom had the girl squealing in delight and Knuckles whipping his head in its general direction. They weren't even waiting three seconds afterwards before Sonic skidded to a halt about a yard away.

"Heya! How'd it go?" He asked while rubbing his nose, the picture of nonchalance.

Amy jumped up and took a flying leap for the speedster, which he managed to sidestep in the very last second. This, unfortunately, made him wholly susceptible to the flying punch to the jaw from a disturbingly calm echidna.

"That's for ditching us, you little cretin!" Knuckles folded his arms as Sonic flailed and hit the ground with a _thump_. The hedgehog jumped to his feet in preparation for a scuffle but was tackled to the ground again by Amy, who took full advantage of his distraction to go for the hug.

"And this is to heal that boo-boo!" She proclaimed, tightening her hold on him. They were cheek to cheek with very different levels of enthusiasm.

"You knew he was gonna slug me?!"

"Maaaaybe."

"Amy!"

Sonic struggled out of her grip, just irritated enough to forget about holding his strength back. She ended up sitting in the dirt, pouting up at him with her nose scrunched and her lips trembling. It would have been cute and pitiful, but he was no stranger to either – _thanks, Tails_ – and didn't bat an eye.

"That so not cool, you oughta warn a guy next time!"

"We will the next time you warn us before you ditch us, Hedgehog." Knuckles came up beside him and cuffed his shoulder lightly. "Now, if you don't mind. I've been away from my island long enough."

"Fine, fine, we'll head back to the Tornado. See ya later, Ames."

"Bye Sonic! Have a safe trip! Nice to meet you, Knuckles. I'll keep your tip about ginger root in mind, thank you."

"It's nothing. Uh…take care."

Later, when Sonic was climbing into the pilot seat of his plane, Knuckles sat on its left wing and regarded him quietly.

"Okay, I can feel you staring through the hull of this thing. What's wrong now?" The hedgehog huffed as he tapped at the gas gauge.

"I just realized that I forgot to ask your friend what species she is."

"What? What do you mean, 'what species she is'? She's a hedgehog, you dingus."

Knuckles' brow furrowed considerably. "But I thought you said you were a hedgehog."

"Uh, yeah. We're both hedgehogs. Newsflash, buddy, not every species has only one of it."

There was a lengthy silence at that and Sonic winced. He knew that was a sensitive topic for the echidna, so that might have been going too far. He opened his mouth to apologize, or change the subject, when his passenger spoke again.

"Your energy is very different from hers."

"Listen pal, I… I'm sorry, what?"

"I said you have a different energy than your friend," Knuckles cocked his head. "All living creatures share a certain form of energy. Life force, in a sense. It's all a manifestation of the chaos energy that permeates this world."

"Okay, uh…cool biology lesson. What's that got to do with Amy being a hedgehog?"

"I learned to distinguish the differences in chaotic life energy from a young age. It's one of the ways I know someone has set foot on Angel Island."

"That's great, Knuckles. Still hasn't answered my question."

"You –" the echidna shook his head, changed tactics. "No matter the differences between individuals, the energy they produce is always the same among the same species. Male, female, young, old. Coloration, variation, personality, it doesn't matter. You told me that Amy is a hedgehog, but her energy is completely different from yours. Either she's lying about her species, or you're lying about yours."

"Hey now, who are you callin' a liar?" Sonic snapped, quills bristling in perceived offense. "Your little energy radar must be goin' out of whack or something, cause telling someone they're not who they are is not cool, Knuckles."

"It's not going out of whack, or whatever weird thing you want to call it! I'm just telling you the truth, Sonic. Her energy is much more subdued than your own. You're like a…what does Tails call them? Homing beacons? You're like a homing beacon with how much chaos energy comes off of you."

"Oh, well, if that's the case, then the answer's easy! I've been using the chaos emeralds for like, almost a year now. Going Super must be sending all kinds of mixed messages. Problem solved, no need to worry your red head about it." The speedster felt his ire subside with his reasoning.

Knuckles looked less convinced, but didn't refute the idea. "Perhaps. I guess that's possible. Just seemed weird to me."

He gripped the plane's wing as Sonic started the engine, entirely done with the conversation. They lifted off in silence and neither echidna nor hedgehog brought up the subject again.

That didn't stop either of them from thinking about it.

**The Fourth**

Amy knew how to provoke people to her advantage. It was her best and worst quality.

For example: provoking Sonic in an attempt to make him look after that little Flicky bird. Provoking Sonic again to join her in Twinkle Park in the middle of an Eggman attack. Provoking Sonic a third time, on board the Egg Carrier, to keep him from destroying robots and _saving her life_.

To be fair, it really wasn't Amy's fault that the delay she caused resulted in Chaos getting two more emeralds. Nor was it her fault that he had mistimed a jump and ended up stranded in the jungle, surrounded by giant trees and old ruins and hallucinations of echidna girls.

But man, was he really regretting running into her that day as he stood in the courtyard of a burning altar.

Eventually, he learned that he wasn't the only one getting weird flashbacks. Knuckles was seeing the same girl, which made a little more sense considering his heritage. Together they figured out what the deal was, and who – what – Chaos was exactly. They were too late to save Station Square from becoming a giant tide pool, but that was just a minor setback in the grand scheme of things.

Fighting Chaos was probably the most unusual thing Sonic had done in his life. He'd fought megalomaniacs, sure. He'd saved the world, no problem. He'd destroyed a space station from inside out, how cool! But to confront the master of chaos, a possibly literal god, when you are only a speedy little hedgehog with a knack for channeling energy.

Thankfully, the speedy little hedgehog had spent a lot of time practicing with his Super form and no longer felt like he was checking out of reality as soon as he transformed. It came more naturally; didn't make the world out to be as foreign as it seemed. He had the thought, at one point in the battle, about whether Chaos felt something similar among all his rage.

It was a question that was never asked, because Sonic had a fight to win, and he'd never really given much thought to those things anyway.

Much, much later, Knuckles would ask him why he had gotten similar visions about Tikal and Chaos and the end of the echidnas. Sonic wouldn't have a good answer, so they would both settle on it being the will of the emeralds.

And that was that.

**And Finally**

"Hey, Sonic?" Tails knocked lightly on the doorframe of the living room before stepping inside to join his best friend.

"Hmm?" The hedgehog mumbled, head laying on his arms atop the coffee table. He was rolling a pencil idly up and down with his finger.

"So I was thinking about what happened last month, that whole Chaos fiasco?"

"Mhmm."

"And how you were able to stop him in your Super form? Which is kinda, crazy, if you think about it?"

"Mm."

"So I was wondering," Tails edged casually into Sonic's peripheral vision, "if you'd let me, oh I don't know…maybe run some tests?"

"Erm…?" The hero stopped playing with the pencil and side-eyed him, rightly suspicious.

"It's not anything too invasive, I promise! I've just been thinking a lot about the emeralds' properties, and how Chaos works, and how Knuckles can turn Super and that mostly makes sense but I don't have a decent hypothesis about your Super form yet so can I please just take some quill samples? And some saliva samples? And maybe blood samples too?"

Sonic sat up slowly, watching the fox talk himself into a nervous ramble and waiting for him to take a breath.

"You, uh…you done yet, buddy? Ready for that sweet O2?"

Tails rolled his eyes good-naturedly and gave an overexaggerated sigh in response. His best friend smirked.

"Alright, Tails. You wanna take some samples, I'm your hedgehog. Just don't get all mad scientist on me, 'K?"

"Aw man, thank you Sonic! You're the best!" The fox hugged him hard before grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the living room. "Let's go do it right now! Come on!"

"Easy, easy. I thought _I _was supposed to be the impatient one, heh."

And that was how the speedster found himself sitting on a sterilized countertop in Tails' lab, holding very still as his best friend finished taking a blood sample.

"This is so cool! I've thought about the effects the emeralds have on a living person, but never how they might work in tandem like yours does. You know?"

"Eh, I dunno, I'm more of a 'live and let live' kind of hedgehog. You almost done?"

"Yeah, yeah, let me just," he wrapped a piece of cotton in medical tape across Sonic's arm. "There. All set to go."

"Cool." The hero hopped off the counter and flexed his fingers. "So maybe let me know what you find, yeah?"

He didn't receive a response, because Tails was already labeling every sample and asking every question out loud as he did it.

"But I wonder, if your body acts as a conduit for their energy, why doesn't it apply to Amy? Or me? Or just anyone? Is your molecular structure different somehow? Is there a variable I'm missing?

"I think I liked it better when you were asking where babies come from." Sonic grumbled to himself.

"Oh, sorry, what'd you say?"

"Nothing. So chaos emeralds! Super strong, I definitely gotta be careful with them, not to be tampered with, with great power comes great responsibility, all that cool stuff. That's pretty much where you're going with all this, right?"

"Well, actually –"

"Great! Awesome. Glad I could help with your science-y stuff, but I'm gettin' in that place where my eyes glaze over and I get a headache, so I think I'll just be juicin' outta here let you look at my blood on your own."

With that, the speedster was already out the door. Tails huffed in exasperation and shook his head, turning to his lab equipment with the determination of a true scientist.

Hours later, the fox would stare in disbelief at the results on his monitor. He would proceed to double check, then triple check his calculations, just to make sure he hasn't made an error that would give out something like this. But everything is in order, as it always is when Tails does his math.

The problem is that the results read as such: Sonic's body is healthy by itself. His quills are in good shape, his saliva is regular, and his blood displays no abnormalities. But when compared to another hedgehog sample – Amy, or other citizens perhaps – those counts appear off the charts. Quills sharper and thinner than evolutionary lines have caused. Highly saturated chaos energy in saliva and blood, far beyond what is considered safe for most Mobians.

But the most significant, the most disturbing, is that the DNA samples are almost completely different. Similarities in body size and structure, but that's about it. Tails will compare every separate hedgehog sample he has, only to find that Sonic's is the anomaly.

The scientific side of him wants to explore it further. The brotherly side of him wants to forget he ever saw it. In the end, he will work an explanation for it around a chaos mutation theory, despite a few glaring disparities. It will help ease the sudden, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he will refuse to ever touch this data or line of query again.

Tails will also never tell Sonic any of this. He believes it's for the best.

(That sick feeling stays for a very long time.)

**The Fifth**

Shadow was a trip.

He was a trip in that he tended to make Sonic go on trips, from escaping the government to escaping prison to escaping a space station. But mostly he was a trip because Sonic had decided he was insane. Or on something. Or both.

Who goes around declaring they're the ultimate lifeform to people? That wasn't even something you did to close friends and family, much less strangers whose identity you've stolen and are itching for a fight with you.

Speaking of fights, this faker tended to give Sonic a run for his money in that department. Which would have been fine if he weren't on Eggman's side. It also wasn't fine when he had the audacity to claim that _he_ was the original and _Sonic_ was the copy.

Not too far off from Metal Sonic, actually. The speedster always got a chuckle at the thought.

Turned out that Shadow had a pretty solid grasp of chaos energy too, for what it was worth. He somehow knew the tricks that Sonic and Knuckles had found only through years of trial and error. He also knew a little something called Chaos Control, which sounded awesome and was totally awesome and was an awesome thing Sonic knew he was going to do someday.

As in, when you're hurtling into space with a fake chaos emerald.

Sonic might have given Eggman credit for finally getting so close to offing his nemesis. But he was too busy with the realization that, once again, he was facing death's door while on a space station belonging to a Robotnik.

In a familiar panic, the hedgehog latched onto the fake emerald and jolted all his fear into it at once. It moaned with faint energy, too faint, not enough for Control, not enough to escape _not enough to survive but we need to_

_Move_, he demanded.

_I'll try_, it wobbled.

Chaos Control shouldn't have worked with the pathetic amount of power in that fake gem. By all rights, it shouldn't have worked for a novice manipulator. But Sonic wasn't going to last long with 'shouldn't'. And when he crash landed back on the cold iron floor of ARK, he took one single moment to himself, to feel the relief and shock and righteous anger all at once. And then he was up and running again, to find Eggman and Shadow and put a stop to their psychotic plans for good.

When Shadow's past and relation to the Robotnik family came to light, a lot of things clicked in place. It made it easier for the hero to put aside his misgivings to help the poor deluded hedgehog. Of course, that didn't mean things magically became easier to deal with.

Not with an itty bitty monster called the Biolizard sticking around.

Teaming up with Shadow wasn't the first time Sonic had put aside a grudge (see above: Knuckles). Nor was it the first time he'd fought side by side with another Super form. What _was_ the first time in this instance was the fact that the darker hedgehog acknowledged, in the middle of their space battle, how he'd misjudged Sonic.

He also told the hero in no uncertain terms that _he _was the true ultimate lifeform. One-hundred percent sure of himself. Shadow really was a trip.

It wasn't until they were desperately pushing against the plummeting ARK that Sonic realized his counterpart's words were not just the ultimate compliment – they were the ultimate finality. He tried to save Shadow. He really, truly did. But there was no chance to reach the falling hedgehog in time without also losing his Super form and suffering the same fate.

So Sonic came back to the ARK and refused to let his comrades forget Shadow's sacrifice.

He also refused to forget how Shadow, the supposedly man-made creation meant to be the most powerful being on Mobius, had basically announced that the title belonged to Sonic alone. The thought was scary, in all honesty, but it was a thought that the hero decided was one deserving to be dwelled on. Whether Shadow was right about everything, something, or nothing was not the point. He was still pretty chaos-damn strong, and he'd acknowledged Sonic as stronger. Ultimate life form or not.

That was what had been important to him, so that was what Sonic would remember. And it was what he would wonder about for a very long time.

**All The Way To The End**

They searched for his body for three weeks to no avail. The Chaotix with their sleuthing couldn't find him; Rouge with her connections couldn't find him; Tails with all his Chaos-tracking devices couldn't find him. Not even a trace of a trail to go off of.

There was just…nothing. Shadow was gone.

The funeral was small and held in secret, away from judgmental strangers and the wide-spread eyes of G.U.N. and the government. Only those who had fought directly against Eggman and the resulting incident were in attendance.

Sonic gave the eulogy.

"He was like no one I'd ever met before. I doubt he was…like anyone we'd ever known before."

The hedgehog looked out among the tiny group of solemn Mobians, all eyes downcast. His gaze dropped back down to the speech Amy had helped him write.

"I don't know if he would have hung around after everything that happened. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he just went into hiding, and that's why we can't find him. I wouldn't really blame him if he did. We're a pretty crazy bunch. So, either way, I hope he hears this; Shadow might have been a little weird, and a little murderous, but he would have fit right in. I hope you're in a great place with lots of room to run, wherever you are. You crazy faker."

Afterwards, he'd deny to his grave that he saw Rouge cry.

Everyone was forlorn as Knuckles lighted the ceremonial torch and delivered burial rites. As he spoke the final words that offered lost souls back to the force of chaos, the torch was tilted to set the empty coffin aflame, bathing everything in melancholy brilliance. Amy sniffled on Sonic's left side, and he wrapped one arm around her shoulder.

Knuckles then took out the purple chaos emerald, from which he drew crackling energy and then channeled into the flames. The fire glowed in a mix of reds and yellows and purples and then folded in on itself until the coffin looked like one large, burning ember. The smoke had become nonexistent.

Very soon, the wood blackened completely and crumbled into ash, causing the chaos energy to release into the air with a pop. The glow disappeared abruptly, and the silent onlookers murmured their thanks to Chaos.

There wasn't much of an end reception. Everyone simply acknowledged each other and left one at a time, having places to be or things to do. The world had not stopped turning for Shadow, but he had kept it turning all the same.

Sonic joined Tails in the trip back to Mystic Jungle, where he ended up staying for five days to rest and recuperate before becoming the public's hero again. It was here that his best friend came up to him, almost sheepishly, and gave him a heavy government file with the word 'CLASSIFIED' splashed across the front.

"What's this?"

"It's a bunch of documents I grabbed from the ARK Colony before we left. I don't…really know why I kept it, cause I don't really want to read it, but I thought it was better than letting G.U.N. find it first, you know?"

"Ya didn't read them? That's not like you, pal."

"I know, but, it's all research notes from Gerald Robotnik. About Shadow. It didn't – I didn't feel right even opening it. So I want you to have it, if you want. Whatever you want to do with it."

Sonic looked at him quietly, then to the documents. He took the thing slowly, staring at the fine print at the very bottom of the file that he hadn't noticed before; 'Ultimate Lifeform Project 2 – Shadow' was scrawled in chicken scratch, very likely by Gerald himself.

"Thank you, Tails. I'll keep it safe."

In the end, he decided not to look at its contents. Instead, he took the file to South Island with his plane and dropped off in Green Hill Zone; the first place he'd encountered Robotnik. There was a place, underneath one of the many busted traps meant to stop him all that time ago, where Sonic had buried a personal time capsule of sorts. It was really only the overturned, rusted shell of a little red wagon with a worn-out handle and two missing wheels.

It didn't take long for the speedster to dig it up, unearthing a few knick-knacks from his world travels as well as some more nostalgic objects – the first ring he'd found, the rusted-out heads of a robotic chicken and a drill grounder, a Sonic action figure that more resembled a certain metal doppelganger than himself, and a pair of pink cat ears signed 'Call me! ~Sarah'.

Pulling out the high-duty Ziploc bag stored in his quills, Sonic placed the file inside, careful not to bump out any of its documents. He set it reverently underneath the action figure and took a long moment to observe the collection with its newest addition.

With a wistful smile, the hero buried everything under the wagon, and buried that again too. He sifted the dirt so it looked natural under the broken metal, then stood up and stretched his arms above his head. He tapped the toes of his shoes lightly into the ground, one after the other, and revved his feet back and forth.

Then he took off, with the intent of running through the whole of South Island. It had been a long time since he'd last done so, after all.

_Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog._

* * *

**A/N: This ended up so long, oh my gosh. Uhh basically, squigglydigglydoo on tumblr made a long "Sonic is An Alien" theory last September that sparked a lot of discussion, and I couldn't resist writing something for it. If you haven't read the theory then at the very least I really encourage it. Right now. Go forth.**

**I originally posted this fic on AO3 but I'm working to make this profile active again, so that's why it's here months later. There's lots of things I skipped out on in this story for the sake of time and space, but I might do a follow-up someday expanding on some of the ideas or games mentioned here. **

**Anyway, thanks so much for reading and hope you enjoy the story!**


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